Chapter 327: The Rescue, and... Useless?

Gunshots rang out, and the crowd immediately fell into chaos.

Ansu watched the five masked mages who had suddenly appeared and quickly assessed their strength: one mid-tier and four low-tier. Their overall level wasn't high, but their mastery of magic was proficient.

The mid-tier mage leading them gripped his staff, and a condensed wind blade shot through the air, cleanly severing the neck of an executioner.

The attacks of the other four mages were filled with intense resentment and a desire for torment. Flames erupted violently, and none of the executioners present were spared amidst their agonized screams.

In the middle of the melee, Ansu noticed a strange detail.

The townspeople who had just been cheering for the fire executions were now scattering in all directions, yet they remained in a state of extreme excitement.

They were howling and shouting, their behavior crazed and unnaturally erratic...

Ansu couldn't help but frown. The entire town of Nitre seemed to be shrouded in an inescapable aura of madness.

Vera also noticed the anomaly and whispered, "Could this be... some kind of mass mental illness?"

"Something like that."

The crow perched on Vera’s shoulder suddenly spoke, Altina’s cold voice coming from its beak.

"The mana plague is like a vicious curse. It doesn't just rot the body; it deeply pollutes the mind."

"After coming into contact with the source of pollution, those with mild infections suffer from flesh rot, while those with severe infections lose their sanity entirely, turning into bloodthirsty, violent, and highly aggressive lunatics..."

"Furthermore, this mental pollution continues to spread, constantly eroding and assimilating more people..."

Vera blinked. What surprised her most wasn't the danger of the mana plague.

She looked at the crow on her shoulder in wonder. "Wow! You can actually speak human language?"

"Of course I can..." The Altina-crow turned her head helplessly.

"Oh?" Ansu’s interest was piqued. He reached out and gently poked the signature emerald-green stray feather on top of its head with his fingertip.

"Speaking of which, are you using avian organs to speak now, or are you producing sound through magic? This Druid transformation magic... is actually quite interesting."

He kept asking questions out of curiosity.

"Can you turn into other forms? Like a bear, a leopard... or some kind of magical creature?"

The Altina-crow grew even more exasperated, constantly tilting her head to dodge his finger before finally flapping her wings to express her blatant disgust.

Celia glanced at Ansu, who was having the time of his life, and quietly leaned in.

"Is it fun?"

Ansu paused slightly.

"If you like it so much," Celia said in a flat tone, "I can turn you into a little pet and play with you myself."

Ansu gave a light cough and pulled back his playful expression. "I think I'll pass... I'd rather stay human."

His gaze returned to the plaza in the center of town.

By now, the masked mages had stormed the high platform, smashed open the cages to rescue their companions, and were preparing to break through and retreat.

But just as the group of mages was about to escape, the unexpected happened.

A squad of tall, armored transcendent knights charged into the plaza with heavy steps.

A chilling sword-wind swept through the area like a storm as they suppressed the crowd with an overwhelming aura.

These knights, possessing transcendent power, reminded Ansu of the late Count Alston.

Clearly, they were followers of the God of War. Many military nobles in the Empire worshipped this deity in exchange for powerful blessings of divine power.

This elite transcendent knight order possessed formidable combat strength and numerical superiority. The mages, forced to defend themselves in haste, were being driven back step by step.

Seeing the mages falling into danger, Elder Matthew couldn't restrain his urge to fight and urged, "Should we move in? These mages have been suppressed and persecuted by the Church and the nobility. Since we've run into them, let's save them if we can!"

Celia asked softly by Ansu’s side, "Shall we help?"

Ansu thought for a moment and gave a small nod.

"Let's help."

...

The central town plaza.

A large number of knights arriving as reinforcements poured out from the streets and alleys surrounding the plaza, and the few masked mages were gradually driven into a corner.

"Where did all these knights from the God of War sect come from?"

One mage stood back-to-back with his companion and gritted his teeth. "It seems those two bastards, the viscount and the mayor, set an ambush long ago, just waiting for us to jump in! We've been played!"

"Let's just fight it out with them!" another person said, face full of resentment, his hands trembling slightly from over-consuming mana.

Alvin, the mid-tier mage leading them, immediately stopped him. "No! If everyone dies here, today's rescue will have been for nothing! I know an escape route. Everyone, provide cover fire and retreat with me!"

However, during the retreat, one mage ultimately failed to withstand the repeated heavy attacks of the knights. The magic shield surrounding him suddenly shattered.

Several knights wielding halberds seized this fleeting opening and swarmed forward. Their halberds, carried by sharp air currents, instantly pierced through his body.

Blood sprayed and flesh flew as the mage was killed on the spot.

After a long and bitter struggle.

The remaining mages' retreat was blocked by layers of knights. They had nowhere left to run and were trapped in a death trap.

Just as the situation reached its most critical point—

Three mysterious figures suddenly charged into the battlefield from the darkness of the night.

They all wore exquisite Gold Masks on their faces. The masks shimmered with a mysterious luster under the firelight, exuding an unknown and intimidating pressure.

One of them, a slender female mage, possessed terrifying power. With every spell she cast, a large group of knights fell to the ground.

The fine armor worn by those knights was torn like thin paper or crushed and deformed, the metal letting out piercing screeches.

The other two male mages were equally powerful.

"Let's finish this quickly." Ansu glanced at Elder Matthew beside him.

"Understood!" Elder Matthew raised his hand, and an invisible gravity field slammed down like a mountain.

The surrounding knights and soldiers were struck as if by a giant invisible palm, all of them being knocked off their feet.

Mana erupted from Ansu’s fingertips. After a brief incantation, a series of Magic Shards shot out like a falling meteor shower. Each shot accurately pierced a knight trying to reform their formation, the terrifying penetration power melting fist-sized holes in their armor.

In the face of these three, the elite knight order was torn to pieces in the blink of an eye, falling into a total rout.

The tide of battle was completely reversed within a single minute.

"So strong...!"

The surviving mages couldn't help but feel shocked.

The four masked mages looked at each other, momentarily forgetting they were still on a battlefield.

"Who... are they?"

Someone whispered to their leader, "Alvin, did you secretly hire outside help?"

"Of course not." Alvin, the mid-tier mage, immediately shook his head, his eyes equally filled with confusion. "Besides... where would our Alchemical Society get the resources to mobilize experts of this caliber?"

"Then where did they come from?"

On the other side, at the edge of the plaza.

Because those three had intervened, the battle had been a total curb-stomp from start to finish, leaving no opportunity for Vera and Altina to act.

"Brother and the others are so good at fighting..."

Under the firelight, Vera slowly lowered the sword in her hand and instinctively locked eyes with the crow on her shoulder, an awkward expression on her small face.

"It feels like the two of us are completely useless... we couldn't even help. They finished off all the enemies in a minute."

The Altina-crow didn't seem to share Vera's awkwardness. She flapped her wings and took off from the shoulder, circling twice in the air.

"I am in charge of high-altitude reconnaissance, so I am very useful."

With that, she beat her wings and soared high, vanishing into the night in an instant.

Vera froze in place.

Her shoulder was empty, and the night wind blew coolly through the tips of her hair.

"So, I'm the only one who's useless...?"

...